The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1887-01-21
Mlseel|anp department.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

Situated one hundred miles from the
sea, at the head of tide water naviga-
ton on the James. which river fur
nishes an exhaustless and unlimited
water-power. and surrounded BY IA rich
agricultural country, the capital city
of Virginia offers such exceptional ad-
vantages to manufacturing enterprises
as to give ii a most prominent position
among the leading industrial centres of
the United States The best of gran
ite is quarried within its corporate
limits. inexhaustible mineral treasures
await the pick of the miner Il few miles
from its founderies. and the State line
of Virginia encloscs vast tracks of viz
Gin forest that stand ready to pay tri-
butte to Richmond mills.
Twenty wears ago the city contained
less than forty thousand inhabitants.
and only about three hundred manufac-
tories. many of which had been called
into existence by the war. lis business
streets had Just been swept hv Il dcvaS-
tating fire, it was bankrupt. and its
people We're povcrty-stric kencd and
stunned. Without stopping to mourn
their dead or bewail their losses. they
set to work with indomitable energy to
retrieve their broken fortunes. to build
q new city, and to tiIl it with new in
dustrics. The Richmond of 1886 con-
tainS a population of over eighty thouS-
and souls: its taxable real estate is val
ued at $4,000 600, and its personal
property at Sl3,000,0o0. Its 100 fac
tories employ 1880 operatives, in bod
les of from ) IL | 100: and with an III
vested capital of Sl2.0Oo,oo0. the an
nual product of these factories has Il
commercial value Of $50. o.0o0.oo0.
The leading industry of the city now
a> before the war. is the manufacture Of
tobacco. of which Slo.ooo.ooo worth
i annually sent out from its factories.
The capacity of some of these factories
is enormous That of p. H. Mayo x
Brother turns out between four and
five millions of pounds of plug tohac-
co, most of Navy" annually the Old
Dominion plug tobacco works have a
yearly capacity of three millions of
pounds: and the Banner Tobacco
Works manufacture fifteen thousand
pounds of plug and twist daily. Pink
ington 4 Go. produce il million and Il
half pounds of smoking tobacco annu-
ally; and Il dozen other factories turn
out an annual product of over hun
drel thousand pounds each.
In going through ii representative
factory, such as that of the Mavos. the
visitor is struck with the extreme neat
ness and order pervaGing every depart
ment, and the skilled intelligence hy
which the operations of the six hun
drcd hands. nearly all of whom are
colored, are directed, After being ia
ken from the hogshoaas in which it is
received. the leaf tobacco is first sorted
into its several grudcS: then ii is stem
med. SWcctened in mixture of syrup
and llcoricc. >tcam-dricd. shredded.
moulded in shapes. cut into dimensions,
envel"pcd i'll leaf wrappers. weighed,
pressed. tagged. and packed for Shir-
mcnt. All this work must DC carried
on IN = temperature of about ninety
degrees. Il, single blast Of colder air
would unfit the prepared material for
use. and it is all done with the utmost
rapidity, precision, and cleanliness.
An interesting feature in those fac
tories in which colorcd workers are en-
plovrd iS the singing, which on some
days * almost continuous in such Of
the departments IL are quiet enough to
Admit Of it. old plantation melodies
and expressive negro HYMNS follow cach
other in rapid succession. and the work
goes on all the faster for them. The
music Is generally monotonouS reci-
tative by Il single voice. fnll"wed by a
grand choruS of hundred or more
voices, each perfect in its part There
Is an intense musical rivalry between